Familiar of Fire
by BlackDevil1942
Summary: When the Spirit of Fire thrown into a slip space tear from the rubble of the Shield World, Captain Cutter's Job just got a lot harder. Now he must defend this Medeival realm from a small Covenant invasion, whilst dealing with the locals and their bizarnes
1. Chapter 1

Familiar of Fire

Ch. 1: Out of the sun, into the eclipse

Captain James G. Cutter was still contemplating what the hell had happened over the last several days, as he wrote his report. Most likely the higher ups would give it to the spooks at ONI and make him and his crew keep everything that happened 'classified'. That is if they ever made it home He was rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance and exhaustion. He hated reports and he hadn't slept in days. James was about to call it a night when his 'favourite' A.I. showed up in his quarters.

"Captain an anomaly has been detected near the debris of the shield world, I think you'll want to see this, it's yet another weird occurrence to add to your report" Serena told the Captain.

"Alright I'll be there in a minute Serena" he answered with frustration. The Captain entered the bridge of the _Spirit of Fire_, and took notice of his crew. Only half of the stations were filled by volunteers who requested to remain awake during their travels home. He also saw the Spartan Jerome-092 awake as well. The soldier had insisted in case of a covenant surprise attack. Cutter didn't mind, but he personally wished it was Sgt. John Forge standing there instead. "_Wish you were here old friend_" he thought to himself.

"Captain we have detected a rift or some kind of slip space tear were the planet center was, but its giving off abnormal readings" Serena informed the captain.

"Is it unstable" He asked?

"No but it's safe, but it's not normal for any form of tears we've encountered before and I have no idea where it leads. It could be home or it could be the middle of nowhere or worse a star" Serena explained.

"That's a risk we have to take. The brass needs to get my report on the shield world, even if it does mean having to deal with ONI" Cutter told Serena.

"Aye sir. Plotting, yet another course leading to certain doom or annihilation. I recommend saying your prayers and repenting all sins" the A.I. stated humorously. The crew gave nervous glances at each other.

"Serena, stop demoralizing my already exhausted crew" Cutter scowled.

"Yes sir, shutting up sir" Serena responded. Cutter let out a grin at the corner of his mouth and chuckled a little. The ship moved into the tear and began its jump through slip space. Cutter prayed that it led somewhere friendly.

* * *

Shipmaster Rola'Ooglaie (oh-glay) was observing the human ship as it travelled towards the rift. He turned to his bridge staff.

"Have they detected us" he inquired?

"No Shipmaster, we are just outside their sensor range" one of his crewmembers answered.

"Excellent, as soon as they enter make full speed towards that tear and follow them. These heretics will pay for the destruction of this holy planet and its relics" Ooglaie stated.

"For the Great Journey" his staff shouted with pride! Rola smirked, he was proud of his crew and his carrier _The Messiah's Blade_. The elder Sangheili trudged across the bridge and left with his Unngoy Leftenant, Jugger. Jugger was one of the few high ranking Unngoy. Jugger not only deserved this position, but had earned it 10 times over. Ooglaie had requested him personally over several other Sangheili. Jugger was a courageous Unngoy and had earned the respect of all but the Jiralhanae and higher rank Sangheili. To add up to his attributes, he was Ooglaie's right hand man and close friend. The Unngoy had long ago earned his respect.

"So chasing humans down like the bugs that they are, humph. I was hoping for something more exciting" Jugger complained. Ooglaie chuckled; he always did respect Jugger's anxiousness for battle and a challenge.

"Well old friend these are the humans that destroyed the relics, and killed the Arbiter, and they also seem to have several of those demons onboard" Ooglaie calmed his companion.

"I guess, but if we board them; you can have the demons head's, I want the Shipmaster's" Jugger snickered. Ooglaie let out a howl of laughter.

"Very well Leftenant the Shipmaster '_Kuter_' is all yours" Ooglaie continued to chuckle happily, as they proceeded to the feeding area.

James Cutter was sitting on his Captain's chair as the Spirit was exiting the slip space jump. They came out about 2km above a planet surface. It appeared to be in the middle of an eclipse and he could see a... flying sailboat and a Zero aeroplane fighter, and... dragons with knights on their backs. He slapped himself in the face and then pinched himself. Nope it wasn't a hallucination due to lack of sleep.

"Serena...what the fuck am I seeing" Cutter asked completely befuddled?

"Exactly what you are seeing sir, the tripped out version of The Lord of the Rings" Serena answered. The crew staffed chuckled, but Cutter did not and gave her a look. "Analyzing sir. Hmm, no com chatter and scans show human life. They seem to be in a medieval era and there also seem to be more mythological species as well, as you can see.

"What about that plane then" one crew member asked?

"Not a clue, maybe they have more advanced aerial technology here and it's a prototype of some sorts, it might explain the flying sailboat" Serena pointed out. Serena continued to observe the scene and noticed that there were two factions and that they were in conflict with another. The leader/royalty of one faction appears to be present on the battlefield. The sailboat was armed with cannons and foot soldiers, and was aiming towards them now. "Captain the ship is aiming its weapons towards us; they are equipped with 18th century cannons and firearms. How do you wish for me to respond?

"Hold your fire, and turn on the external speakers" the Captain ordered. Serena did as told. "This is Captain James Cutter of the colony ship _Spirit of Fire_ I am from the United Nations Space Command and my crew and I come in peace. Cutter could hear the grunts and scowls from the crew about the cliché one liner 'we come in peace'. I would like to meet both leaders of this current conflict on the ground. I will meet you shortly to discuss what the hell is going on. Cutter cut the external speakers and turned to Serena and Jerome. Serena I want Charlie Company woken up as well as Dr. Anders. Have Platoon 4 meet me at the Pelican bay. Jerome you along with the rest of the company will remain on standby in case these locals don't like us. Cutter turned to a Leftenant in the bridge. Jefferson you have the bridge while I'm gone. Both soldiers gave a crisp salute and Serena nodded. Cutter then proceeded to leave the bridge and head towards the armoury.

Dr. Ellen Anders was now in her lab rummaging through her desk for her new prototype Eye Visual Extension or as she called it EVE. It was a single eye piece visor that wrapped around the back of your head and went over your right eye and extended a mouthpiece from the right ear and had ear buds in both ears. It allowed the wearer to extend his visuals through distance, night vision, and heat vision. It also identified targets and there weaponry on sight, as well as aid in increased accuracy and precision. When she finally found it she scrambled towards the Pelican bay.

Captain Cutter was about to board his pelican when he heard Dr. Anders calling to him. He turned around and saw her sprinting to the pelican nearly out of breath. The Captain sighed and annoyed gruff.

"Anders I told you, you can't come until we assess the situation with the locals; so stop asking or I'll have you confined back in your cryo tube" Cutter said sternly.

"No*huff* *huff* Captain I just *huff* wanted you to have *huff* this. It will help you if things get messy" Anders explained. She extended her hand and showed him the EVE. He removed his cap and placed the visor on and activated it. It instantly identified his name, rank, serial number, and profile. He looked around and saw that it had a friendly fire setting and identified each trooper by the rank and last name. He turned to Anders. "It was meant for the Sergeant, but I figured you'd need it more than he does now. Anders looked gloomy at the mention of Forge. Cutter patted her on the shoulder.

"I miss him too Professor" he smiled. Anders then back away from the pelican as the rear doors closed and it, along with another pelican, took off. Cutter sat down and placed his cap on backwards so that the visor didn't feel awkward. Along with his uniform, he was wearing a marine chest plate, shin guards and armoured boots. Fingerless glove, and elbow pads, along with a light shoulder armour on his left and a heavy shoulder armour on his right. He actually looked similar to an ODST sniper. He had his insignias and name on his left arm and a picture of a ball of flame with angel wings on his right shoulder guard. He was carrying a MA5B AR and a Shotgun along with some grenades and his sidearm. One of the marines pondered a question.

"So sir what's the mission" the soldier asked?

"Make contact, and assess if they are friendly or not, that and find out where the hell we are and how we get back home" the marine nodded. Cutter just sat back in his seat and pondered about the events to come, when the speaker came alive.

"We are about to touch down on the LZ, be advised many military locals are present with our 'ambassadors" the pilot pointed out the area. Cutter stood up as the doors to the pelican opened and was temporarily blinded by light.

"_One small step for man, one giant pain in the ass for me_" Captain Cutter thought to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Familiar of Fire

Ch. 2: Babysitting

Princess Henrietta De Tristain was standing in the open plain with several of her knights, Louise de La Vallière, her familiar Saito Hiraga with his talking sword Derflinger, and the leader, Oliver Cromwell, of the Albion army along with several of his knights and the traitor Wardes. She could see the giant behemoth in the sky; it was almost the size of Albion maybe more. Henrietta went over to Saito and Louise.

"Saito is this from your world like the metal dragon" she glanced over at the Zero fighter plane.

"No Princess, I've never seen anything like this, but they speak English which is a universal language on my world so they must be from there" Saito explained. He began to ponder if time had passed so much in his universe that space travel was now a common thing, that or it's a really big Zeppelin.

During the announcement from the ship the majority of the nobles had cast spells to understand the message; those who didn't were told what the message was. It startled Saito when they mention the UN which also led him to believe that they were from his home. He jumped when his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of jets and the shadows of two aircraft coming in close. The aircraft looked similar to a bird with it wings and the tail sticking out in the back. The aircraft hovered over top of them for a few seconds then began to turn away from them and lower towards the ground. Landing gear began to deploy as it set down and then felt a slight thump as both craft touched the ground. The back doors of the craft began to open and at first all they could see was dark and then they saw shadows stir and move forward. A middle aged man around his 50s stepped off the ship and walked towards the Princess. He had his cap on backwards and wore far more advanced armour then Saito was used to seeing soldiers of his world wear. The man also had some sort of eye piece with a microphone, extending to his mouth, on around his head. Before the man could approach the princess he was stopped by two bodyguards. Whilst this was happening, Saito and the others did not notice the 40 odd soldiers climbing out of the aircraft, and securing a position near the middle aged man. Saito could feel a lot of tension between the man and the two guards. The man held his ground and still stepped forward towards Henrietta and only greeted with more aggression from the guards.

"Keep your distance from her highness or we shall end you" one of the guards threatened. The man just gave a puzzled look indicating he didn't understand. Louise was about to cast a translation spell when they heard the sound guns being cocked and pointed at them. Saito intervened with some English that he knew.

"They don't speak English. Only I do and even then it's rusty" he pointed to Louise. "She is going to try and fix that, but no matter what happens, don't shoot in case something goes wrong. The man looked at him and nodded and then muttered some words into his microphone. Louise began to chant her spell and release it, only to be greeted by her typical explosion. Saito could hear yelling and cursing.

"What the fuck was that" shouted the voice of a young man.

"Hold your fire, do not engage" came an older voice.

"I can't see smokes too thick" said another voice.

"What did that kid do, throw a grenade at us" said yet another voice.

"Ow, my fucking head feels like it was hit by an Elite's fist" stated another voice. Finally the smoke began to clear and the soldiers were coughing slightly and looked pretty pissed. They glared at Louise.

"What the hell are you trying to do kid, turn us to dust" one of the soldiers scowled.

"Shut up you mindless dog, I am a noble and you should treat me as such" Louise screamed at the soldiers.

"Did that little bitch just call me stupid" the same soldier inquired.

"Yeah, which means whatever she did worked now pipe down Tech" said another soldier. The one called Tech just let out an annoyed grunt and left it at that. The middle aged man dusted himself off and approached the queen yet again.

"We warned you not to approach her highness plebeian" the guard threatened.

"I'm here to establish a diplomatic greeting to you and your queen, and you greet me with threats, insults and an explosion to my face" the older man stated. "If I wanted, I could have you all annihilated in an instant, and you are treading on thin ice my good sir.

"Please excuse my knights they are simply doing what they feel is in the best interest of my safety" Henrietta explained.

"That doesn't excuse them from calling me and my men dogs and plebeians" the man said sternly.

"Yes I apologise for them, we're all on edge from the battle and are still recovering from the shock of your arrival"

"So are me and my men, but you don't see us acting like unmannerly and untrusting people"

"Again I apologise"

"Your highness do not apologise to this plebeian, he has no right to even ask for your forgiveness, let alone an apology" Louise stated. The man simply turned to her with a blank stare and approached her. He bent down so that they met eye to eye.

"A smart, disciplined child, such as a noble, should know when to keep their mouth shut" the older man said. He turned to the guard. "And a good soldier should know when let their superior officer, let alone Monarch, to speak for his/her self. He turned back to the queen. I am Captain James Cutter of the _Spirit of Fire_, the ship you see above you. I am a member of the United Nations Space Command Navy. We recently came from a mission, of the utmost importance, that we just accomplished. Upon completing this mission, an anomaly was detected in the form of a tear in space. We approached the tear in the hopes that we would find a way home. We then ended up here during the eclipse and you know the rest. He looked at the boy with the sweater and jean pants. I can assume were not the first, considering the young Japanese boy and his Zero fighter plane. Saito nodded.

"I came here by accident as well, and the plane was here about 60 years before me" Saito explained. "There were also some soldiers from the 1980s that appeared here as well, but they died from injuries shortly after. It has something to do with the eclipse, that's all I know. Cutter nodded and observed the area around him.

"We are also in the middle of intergalactic war with an army of aliens known as the Covenant. They have already wiped out at least a dozen of our colonial planets and killed hundreds of millions" Cutter began to say. "We just recently finished a conflict with them. We lost a lot of good men. Cutter began to think of Sgt. Forge and the others that were killed. We only wish to know of a way back home and how we get back.

"You just missed it" Saito explained. "The eclipse is the portal in and out, there's no other way. I was trying to leave when the fighting started and decided to stay behind and help my friends. Louise gave him a quick hug.

"And because of that we were able to hold them off" Louise said with a smile. "Besides you're my familiar, you're not allowed to leave your master. This statement received some weird glances from the marines; who, unfortunately, got the wrong impression and image from what she said. Cutter was about to continue when he heard com chatter.

"Captain, I'm picking up something in bound" said the pilot of the Pelican. "I can't tell what i-Oh Shit! The pilot was cut off by a plasma blasts going through both pelicans and an explosion near the group of people. Captain Cutter was on the ground, his ears ringing. He could hear his heartbeat. He saw the queen on the ground in shock, her two guards dead. There was no one near her and he could see more Seraph fighters coming in for a run. He sprinted for her, it felt so slow; each step was an eternity. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up. He pulled her into a sprint towards the forest about 10 metres away. Everything was still moving slowly. He could hear the distant echo of a Seraph coming in for the second run towards him and the queen. He heard yet another explosion as the giant flying sailboat crashed to the ground, wood and gun powder flying in the distance. He only had 3 metres to go and they would be in the cover of the brush. The Seraph was getting closer; he could hear plasma rounds connecting with the ground a little ways behind him. He bolted with all his strength and pulled the queen harder. Everything suddenly returned to a normal speed. He darted into the forest with the queen just as the Seraph plasma rounds caught up to them.

Cutter was on the ground panting, the shock was still there. He placed the young queen behind a tree as he surveyed the outside of the forest. Only a handful of knights had escaped. The other leaders from the invading army were dead, as well as nearly his whole platoon. He opened a com channel to his team.

"What happened, I need a Sitrep now" Cutter commanded. He was greeted with some coughing.

"This is Sgt. Gary from 3rd squad, glad to hear your voice sir; we got hit bad, only half of my squad and 1st squad made it out" Gary explained. "We managed to send out a distress call to the _Spirit of Fire_. We're about 100m from your position sir, and we have several civilians and knights with us.

"Copy that Sgt, I have the queen safe and sound; the other leaders didn't make it" Cutter responded.

"Sir, I have one her knights here. He wishes to speak with you"

"Put him on"

"Captain I am the Princess Henrietta's head bodyguard, thank you for saving her" the guard thanked him.

"No problem, just doing my job"

"I cannot reach her from here due to amount of enemy fire being brought down on us. I ask that you escort her back to the palace or magic academy where she will be safe for now"

"I'm sorry, but I have my ship and crew to look after, and the Covenant require my utmost attention"

"Then please escort her on to your ship where she will be safe"

"Very well I'll call for an Evac" Captain Cutter started to raise his ship. "Serena what the hell is happening?

"Captain; a single Covenant Carrier came out of the eclipse in another region of the planet" Serena sounded a little panicked. "They have already deployed over a dozen bases on a floating island on the boarders of the mainland. All human life signs on the island are gone. Cutter cursed he was hoping that the Covenant wouldn't follow them, but he knew better.

"Understood, I need a Pelican at my position now for transportation of VIP to the ship"

"I sorry sir, but I cannot; enemy aircraft are everywhere and we can't find a safe spot for a fire base" Serena explained. "We sent down the standby reinforcements, but only 4 of the 10 pelicans made it through. They dropped off the Spartan and two platoons of men with two hogs, and a scorpion. Unfortunately, none of the pelicans made it back. We are also detecting a company of Covenant inbound to your area. Recommend you set up a defensive position and hold out until we can clear the airspace.

"Roger; I am ordering you to destroy that carrier immediately, it's your top priority" Cutter ordered. "In the mean time I will escort the princess back to safety since I'm cut off from the others.

"Very well sir, if you happen to find a strategic location for a fire base whilst en route relay it to me" Serena requested."Oh and James, good luck.

"Thanks Serena, you be careful and look after our boys down here"

"Understood Captain" Serena answered. Cutter cut the feed and stood up and went over to the princess who was still in minor shock. He went to pat her on the shoulder when she jumped from the sudden greeting. She was white with fear and shaking like a scared puppy. The Captain gave her a reassuring pat on the back.

"It's ok your highness were safe, but we have to get you to your palace or the magic academy" Cutter told her. "Do you happen to know which is closer and what way? She nodded. Can you show me? She nodded and stood up. Her hair was a dark purple, she had grey eyes and was very young. She was wearing a silver tiara, with jewels strewn across it, on her head; while wearing steel armour on her chest, arms, and legs, with a belt spat over her legs. She reminded him of his daughter, who had just finished university on Reach.

Henrietta stood up and exhaled quite forcefully. She looked at him.

"Thank you for saving me captain, but I cannot abandon my men" Henrietta told him.

"Your head guard requested that I get you to safety, and there is no way to meet up with them at this time. Plus add to the fact that there is a company of Covenant headed this way, and if either of us are captured we will be interrogated or killed"

"I understand, but will your men be able to hold them off" she asked? Cutter was about to answer, but even he didn't really know. His men were trained ODST with vehicle and Spartan support, but the Covenant are ruthless and outnumbered them 3 to 1.

"I believe that they can hold them off until more reinforcements arrive to assist them" he answered. Henrietta gave him a soft smile and sighed.

"Very well Captain, you know your men and enemy far better than I do; so I will allow you to escort me to safety"

"Then lead the way milady, but stay close; Covenant have a tendency of sneaking up on people" Cutter informed her. He pulled out his assault rifle and walked beside her. He decided to monitor the com chatter and see how things were going. It wasn't good. The ODST and Jerome were being overrun by the enemy, but were holding. The children that had been on the scene had retreated with several knights to safety while the other forces bought them time. The Covenant Carrier was still pouring out soldiers and bases onto the floating island. Cutter could only guess that, like him and his crew, they had no way of leaving or calling for help; so they decided to set up residence.

Ooglaie was touching down onto the floating island, from the gravity lift, with Jugger and several of his personal guards. They had eliminated the entire human population on the island and decide to make it a staging area, since these humans were so primitive and have no true form of aerial transportation. What troubled Ooglaie was their inability to contact reinforcements, or read their current coordinates; which meant that they were stuck here, perhaps permanently. The human ship was in another region of the planet and was being engaged by their Seraphs and a company of troops and vehicles. The ship, at the moment, pose no true threat; however it's shipmaster had proved in the past to be quite capable of taking down Covenant ships on its own. Ooglaie would have to keep his guard up if he wanted to defeat this ship and its crew.


	3. Chapter 3

Familiar of Fire

Ch. 3: The Captain and the Princess

Cutter and the Princess had been trekking through the forest for almost a day, and nightfall was closing in. He was fine, but he could tell that the Princess was exhausted and shivering from the evening cold. She was playing the tough guy act (figuratively) and he wasn't buying it for a second. They finally came to a small clearing in the forest where they could set up a fire.

"We'll rest here for the night, in the mean time you should take off that armour and put on some real clothes or else you'll freeze out here" Cutter recommended to her. She was hesitant, Cutter noticed this. "If we encounter the Covenant, that armour won't make a difference. All it does is slow you down and make more tired faster. Trust me you don't need it anymore. Henrietta sighed and began to remove her armour, and started to blush. What's wrong?

"Um...I only have underwear beneath my armour, and my clothing is with my squire" she responded. "My squire is with the others and I don't feel comfortable undressing in front of a grown man. Cutter chuckled a little. What? What's so funny?

"You remind me of my daughter, no matter how old or mature she got, she always was shy around others; even her own father" he began to think back on how many times he had teased her for being such a wuss. He wished for just one more tease with his daughter before he died in this war. "You don't need to worry I'm used to seeing naked men and women all the time, but if it makes you feel any better I'll face the other way. Before he turned around he pulled out several things from his pack. He pulled out a blanket, a shirt with ODST on it, and some pants. Here put these on then get some sleep, after I've made a fire, ok?

"Thank you" she said. Cutter turned around and let her change; it took about ten minutes. When he turned around, it took all his military training to suppress a laugh. The shirt fell down to her knees, and sagged. The pants managed to stay on her waist, but the legs were so long that they piled up on her feet. Then add to the fact that she had a tiara on and several pieces of jewellery; made it quite the comical scene. Unfortunately Cutter couldn't hold it in and began laughing,

"Ha ha ha! Oh Jenny you look like you did when you were five ah hah hah" Cutter began to cry from laughter.

"Jenny? Who's Jenny" The now red princess asked? Cutter stopped laughing and realized his mistake.

"Jenny is my daughter, the two of you are the spitting image, and you look like her when she was five, trying to be an ODST princess; only the clothing was way bigger on her" he started to laugh again. Henrietta smiled. She felt relieved that this man wasn't just another soldier on the battlefield that had no time for laughing and jokes. Cutter stopped laughing. "And with him gone, I suppose I'll have to keep an eye on his girl too.

"Whose girl" Henrietta inquired.

"Oh sorry, an old friend of mine had daughter" he answered with sadness in his eyes.

"Had?"

"He died on our last mission, we needed someone to manually detonate a bomb that would destroy a large enemy fleet" Cutter answered. "And of course, like the stubborn SOB he was, he volunteered; even though another requested before him. He died in the explosion obviously and now his daughter is an orphan, but she is over 18 and living by herself. Still, he was all she had in the galaxy, and now he's gone. I see it only fitting as his Captain, and close friend, that I keep an eye on her from now on. That is, if I ever get back home, or if home's still there when I get back. Henrietta nodded; she knew all too well what it's like to lose a father. She still had her mother, Louise, and now Saito, so she was well off in the family department. She turned to the Captain.

"Aside from your daughter, who else do you have?"

"Well; my wife died in child birth, and I never remarried" he answered. "My parents are long gone; a lot of my relatives were on the planet Harvest when it was attacked. Sgt. Forge was one of my best friends, and my other friends are either missing or dead. Nope, aside from Serena my ships A.I, my daughter is really the only thing I have left. Henrietta was shocked to hear he had lost so much, and yet he was almost unaffected by it. Finally Cutter got up and went to go get some wood for the fire.

Captain Cutter was sitting down on tree that he had dragged out to use as a bench. Henrietta was fast asleep and curled up in the blanket. She was fidgeting and mumbling about some guy called 'Wales'. He decided to test his EVE while he stood watch. He began to work his way through the sights on his visor. He went to zoom, zoom back, night vision, and then thermal. That's when he saw something very interesting. He yawned and decided to let it go. The perimeter was more than secure so he decided to get an hour or two of sleep. He went and laid on the grass and fell into a deep sleep.

Leftenant Gury'Vasumee was observing the two humans sleeping by the fire. He couldn't believe how careless these humans were, and after all the tales he had heard about the strategic and cautious 'Kuter'. He had two young Sangheili with him for this recovery mission. The objective was to apprehend and deliver these two humans to the shipmaster for questioning and then execution by parading their carcasses around the bases. He decided to play a game with the humans. He and his two soldiers walked towards the camp. They deactivated their camouflage and approached the humans. They decided to get up close and tap the humans awake, and give them a nice scare.

One of the young Sangheili approached 'Kuter', while Vasumee and the other approached the female. The young Sangheili was about to wake up the human when a pistol went between his mandibles.

"Psych" was all the human said. He shot the young Sangheili through the head, killing him instantly. The human grabbed the dead soldier's energy sword and stabbed it into the other stunned soldier. It pierced through his gut and damaged Vasumee's shields, as it connected with him. The young warrior's body toppled on to the Leftenant. He moved the body, but too late to stop the shotgun barrel from entering his mouth. The last thing Vasumee saw was the cold stare of the shipmaster called 'Kuter'. The man truly was a warrior to be feared. The shotgun tore through his skull and sent the mangled upper half of his head flying into the air. Unfortunately a lot of blood landed on poor Henrietta, who had woken up just in time to see the Captain stab the one Sangheili.

She screamed at the sight of all the blood that she was now, soaked in. Cutter was about to calm her down when his visor picked up something. He turned just in time to see a fourth Elite rush him with an energy sword. He jumped back in time to avoid it, but he lost his shotgun and received a deep cut in his armour. He fell onto the ground on his back, and rolled over as the Elite tried to stab him into the ground. He stood up and tried to use his pistol, but it was knocked out of his hands by the Elite as it swung its sword again. Cutter then received a punch to the face, and another to the gut. He stumbled and was picked up and pinned, at the neck, against a tree by the large alien's forearm with blade pointed at his face. Cutter choked a breath as the alien spoke.

"Very resourceful human; you completely fooled my underlings and even me" the Elite began. It chuckled a little. "How did you know we were their?

"I knew they were in the brush, but I didn't see you; you must've been in my blind spot" Cutter answered. "Your stealth fields give off way to much thermal energy. My visor has thermal vision, so naturally I saw your men and decided to play possum. The Elite gave him a confused look. Cutter figured he didn't know the saying or the animal for that matter. Means playing dead or in this case sleep. He explained

"Ah, I see, and when you knew we outnumbered you went to surprise tactics" the alien deciphered.

"You obviously wanted us alive, and I figured it would be more fun to make your men shit themselves before they died" Cutter chuckled.

"Yes, unfortunately you are far too volatile to be taken as a prisoner; so I have no choice but to kill you" the alien said sternly. "My face will be last thing you see. Cutter chuckled. What is so funny?

"That's what your late Arbiter said to my friend as well" he grinned. "Want to know what happened next. The alien smirked and decided to indulge him

"What?"

"This" Cutter finished. An energy sword went right through the alien's chest from behind. The Elite gasped for breath and turned around to see a young girl holding the sword with all her strength.

"Damn...you" was all the alien was able to gasp before he fell onto the ground and died. Cutter fell to the ground, choking for air to reach his lungs. Henrietta ran over to him.

"You've been seriously wounded, you need help" Henrietta gasped. Cutter lightly pushed her away as he stood up.

"No...I'm fine, just a little da-" he fell to the ground barely conscious. Henrietta grabbed him. His chest was bleeding from the slice wound. She placed his arm around her shoulders and started walking towards their destination. She stopped and cut the pants into shorts, cut the shirt so that it no longer sagged on down to her knees. She also wrapped her hair in a ponytail so that she could see well. She began to drag him for hours. He did his best to help, but Cutter knew he was done.

"Just holds on Captain were a few minutes from the city just hold on" Henrietta screamed into deaf ears. The Captain was too far in shock to hear her. She had to get him to a safe location in the city. Someplace they were they could trust the people. Then it dawned on her the pub owned by Mr. Scarron, it was perfect. She put everything she had into getting them there. When she finally arrived, she began banging on the door. "Help, Mr. Scarron, Miss Jessica! Please help. She yelled as loud as she could. The door was opened by a sleepy Jessica.

"Hmm, who is it" the black haired girl asked? She saw Henrietta and the dying man. "Oh my god, your highness what happened? Father get down here now! Scarron ran down the stairs in his PJs.

"What is it my-Oh my goodness" he shrieked! He saw a middle age man being laid onto a table that was all bloody and beaten, and Princess Henrietta in what looked like torn and tattered rags. "What in god's name is going on Jessica? Your Highness what are you doing here? You've been missing for nearly two days and we feared the worst when that Behemoth came from the sky. He looked down at the older man. And who is this man, and what is he wearing?

"Later Mr. Scarron, help me take his armour off, he has a nasty wound and we need to mend it fast" she pointed out. They removed his chest armour and saw a deep slice across his chest. It was sheared as if it had been burned by a sword of pure fire. The bleeding was getting worse, and he was dying from blood loss.

"I don't think there's anything we can do your highness, his wounds are too...bizarre" Jessica told the princess. "We would need a noble who specialises in healing magic, but the academy is at least 2 hours by cart. They saw the man begin to stir. He pointed to his chest plate.

"Bio...foam" he choked.

"What" Henrietta asked?

"Biofoam...right chest plate...canister" he answered. Jessica pulled out one of two canisters. The man nodded. "Pull the...pin...insert in...wound. Jessica pulled the pin and was about to insert the canister when the man grabbed her arm. No...not like...that. He tapped the handle, and she understood. She stabbed the handle into his wound, and it filled with white foam. The man cringed in pain, and gasped. He stood up as if he no longer had any wounds. Thank you, but that will only last about a day at most. Bring some bandages so I can cover the wound, and food, lots of food. Jessica nodded and ran to the kitchen quickly. She returned with bandages and a basket of sausage, cheese and bread. The man nearly inhaled all the food as he ate it. When the bandages were placed on him he stood back up and went towards the princess. Thank you your highness; I thought I was done for a second. She smiled with tears forming in her eyes.

"No, thank you; you saved me from those creatures" she thanked him. "But we need to get you to the academy and get you a healer. Scarron ran for the door.

"I'll prepare the horse and cart; Jessica pack a bag of clothes quickly" Scarron informed the group. Within ten minutes the group was galloping towards the academy. Cutter was lying down in the cart with Jessica by his side making sure he wasn't drifting. She noticed he was still deep in shock and slowly becoming paler.

When they reached the academy, Henrietta screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Help, Help" she cried. "Emergency, we need help. She could see the academy begin to stir. The first to arrive was Mr. Colbert.

"Your highness, thank goodness you're alright, what is the problem" he asked completely dumbfounded?

"This man needs help from a healer NOW" Henrietta told the teacher! Colbert looked at the man and was shocked at the armour and wound he had.

"Bring him inside quickly; I'll get the headmaster right away," he stated. They carried Cutter towards the academy. Henrietta could only pray that it was not too late for her saviour.


	4. Chapter 4

Familiar of Fire

Ch. 4: Game Plan

Henrietta was running behind Scarron as he carried the dying Captain in his arms. Professor Colbert was at the head of the group leading them towards the nearest area, were they could heal the soldier safely. Henrietta could see tired students and teachers stirring in the halls wondering why their monarch was following Colbert, and a flamboyant man carrying an older man in strange armour.

They reached the dining hall first where she saw the Headmaster, Leftenant Lily (OC) of the Firearms Brigade, and of course; Saito, Louise and the gang. Colbert cleared a table with his staff, shattering dishes and glasses onto the floor. Scarron placed the semi conscious man onto the table and moved out of the way so the Headmaster could examine him.

Henrietta was about approach when she was confronted by Louise.

"Your majesty, are you alright? What happened? Where's your armour and clothes? Why are you in dirty rags" Louise rambled? Henrietta placed a finger on Louise's lips so as to silence her.

"Louise I'm fine, you have nothing to fear" Henrietta consoled her friend. Louise was not convinced one bit.

"Nothing to fear, you're covered in mud and blood, wearing rags, and look like you've seen Satan himself" Louise bellowed. "What did this mischievous, barbarian dog do to you my lady?

"LOUISE! Show respect to the man who just saved me several times in the last two days" Henrietta scowled! "This man saved me from being blown up, captured, executed, and saved my sanity more times than I can count! His name is Captain James G. Cutter and you will show him respect Miss de la Vallière. Louise remained silent and stunned from the outburst; never had Henrietta scorned her in such a manner. Louise bowed.

"Forgive me milady, I was out of place, it won't happen again" she said with a tinge of resentment. Agnes approached the Princess.

"Your highness, things are dire" Lily explained. "While you've been gone, the behemoth has remained were it was, but is unable to hold off the other off worlders. They are swarming the kingdom; burning village after village leaving naught but corpses and fear in their wake. Captain Agnes and a platoon of my fellow sisters went to assist but have yet to return. I fear the worst.

"That's to be expected" said a tired pained voice. They all turned to see Captain Cutter sitting up on the table; looking less pale and livelier. They looked at the Headmaster.

"His wound was strange, but not unfixable; he will recover" he responded to their inquiring gaze's. Captain Cutter continued.

"The Covenant slaughters everyone they find" he said. "They will sweep across this world and butcher its inhabitants and then burn the planet till its surface is naught but flame and glass. Your weapons will little to no affect against their shields and vehicles. Some of them even have skin to thick for your firearms to penetrate. Your world is a primitive one and is too far behind on the technological scale, even with your magic. Even with the entire planet at arms, they will sweep through all of you and destroy this world and those that inhabit it. By this time more students and teachers had entered, so as to assess the commotion. Many turned white at this statement. The younger students held onto their seniors and teachers and cried in fear. Colbert nearly lost his footing at this revelation, bringing back terrible memories of the burning village. Saito was least affected, still frightened but; he had seen the horrors of his home's wars and the death it brought. James Cutter tapped his EVE. Serena please respond. No answer. Serena, do you copy, over. Silence, then a startled yet smug voice responded.

"Well Captain it's about time you reported in, the men and I have been worried sick about you" Serena taunted him. Cutter smirked.

"Copy that Serena, what's the damage?"

"Covenant still has air superiority, and the carrier is still afloat. We managed to damage it with a hit and run, but not enough to stop it. Covenant ground forces are swarming the area. I've reinforced the ground team, but they are in constant retreat. They are also preoccupied with evacuating civilians from various towns and villages, but they have no where secure to flee to. If you have found a secure zone for a firebase please inform me; we need the advantage."

"Oh don't worry Serena I found the perfect fortress in which to hold a siege" he heard Serena mumble something.

"Well what are you waiting for; throw me a bloody bone here."

"Do you have my location?"

"Yes, I have a probe just above your 'fortress'; quite an amazing structure."

"Indeed; can you see the main entrance to the academy?"

"Yes I can."

"Good, I want you to place a Firebase on the west, east, and south areas around the structure facing the same direction as the entrance. After they have deployed, I want both the western base and the eastern base to begin a full base construction on infantry, air support, and heavy armour. The southern base is to focus on supplies and power plants."

"Yes sir, anything else."

"Yes, move the _Spirit_ above the academy and above the atmosphere, and tell all current ground forces to direct civilians and themselves to the Tristain magic academy."

"Yes sir the bases are on route with a company of infantry in each."

"Good, I'll contact you for further orders when things start to get moving."

"Aye sir, and Captain; welcome back"

"Thank you Serena, Captain Cutter out."

Lt. Andrew Ricky was covering up a wound he had sustained from a needler shard to his left forearm. His team was KIA or MIA he didn't know which since he couldn't contact any of his squad. He could hear screaming and discharge of plasma outside his temporary hiding spot. He finished applying some adrenaline to his system, and stood back up and walked to the outside of the half destroyed house he'd been in.

The village was aflame and littered with burning corpses. Ricky couldn't see anything living, not even a single grunt or elite. It made him anxious and uneasy. He knows there should be Covenant and some marines from another squad nearby. He had only been out of the fight for a few minutes. He also knew that such silence always meant the worst, but thankfully this was not the case since the Covenant carrier wasn't powerful enough to glass this planet by itself, especially since he had received word from the _Spirit_ that they had disabled it from moving away from its current location.

Ricky decided to leave the area while he still could and maybe look for survivors if he had time. He began walking through the main road that went through the village. The flames and bodies couldn't help but make him feel like he was on a pathway through hell and at the end the ferryman awaits him. He let the thought pass and continued cautiously down the road. When he reached a large fountain, now filled with different coloured bloods, he could hear a faint whimper and sob, and then a sudden hush followed by the pure silence that was once present. It seemed to be coming from a small alley to his right. He slowly approached the darkened hall. He could not see anything despite the fire; the shadowed alley was as black as coal and he knew someone was there. He raised his silenced SMG and turned on his guns light.

What he saw next was both relieving, yet saddening. He could see three young women in armour with muskets and pistols, in front of at least a dozen small children and several adults, mostly maids and merchants, one noble. Ricky lowered his rifle and slowly stepped towards the soldiers. The tensed and began shouting at him in...French; he couldn't tell. He decided to use his VISR translator and was surprised to see it was a form of Persian French or European. He activated his outside speakers with the translator on.

"Calm down I'm not a threat I'm here to help," he said holding his hands up in front of him as if surrendering.

"LIES, you are with those monsters, and you will butcher us just like you did this village and the ones before it," the lead woman screamed! She had mid-length hair that was orange, Caucasian, brown eyes and wore more armour than the other two. She also seemed to have a very superior demeanour out of all the people there. She shrieked at him again. Be gone demon before I dispatch you back to your place in Hell! Ricky had no idea what to do, he could easily just walk away and leave them to their fate's, which was obviously death, but he couldn't just abandon them, especially young children.

Then it clicked in him. He slowly began to move hands towards his helmet and take it off, but was interrupted by a bullet flying past his head. He froze, these people clearly meant business, but he had to show them he was not a threat and a human for that matter. He removed his helmet to reveal a young man, early twenties, with short dark red hair, blue eyes, Caucasian, and a scar that went down his right eye. The three women looked sceptic but lowered their guns. Ricky knew full well they would do little harm against his ODST armour but he would prefer not being shot all together. The lead woman approached him and yet again began speaking in French. He was about to put his helmet back on and explain the translator, but before he could, she gripped his wrist and spoke again in a stern, cold tone. He spoke, and the woman realised he didn't speak their language; she appeared confused as to how he spoke earlier. Ricky noticed this and pointed to his helmet, she nodded in understanding and let him finish placing his helmet on. He let out a sigh.

"You really are a jumpy one aren't ya," he said to the woman with a chuckle. She gave him a soft glare. He just chuckled more.

"You were in strange armour and walking through the flaming village with little to no worry in your step," she eyed him and couldn't help but feel safe around him, now that she knew he was human.

"Trust me if it weren't for the fact that you have a dozen kids there I would have left you,"

"Not very noble or soldierly of you,"

"Neither is shooting someone who wants to help," he retorted. The woman just scoffed. "This is a war of survival lady, only your brothers in arms are the ones that you save. Those that try to kill said brothers or threaten them are scum and cowards. Those that abandon them are worse. You seem to be the former, but possibly the latter. I tried to help you and you shot at me, what does say about your trust in a fellow soldier, or for that manner any person trying to help. The woman just glared and gritted her teeth. Were it not for innocence here, I probably would've shot you for firing at me and my comrades would've done the same. She just smirked at this.

"Then where are you comrades,"

"Dead"

"Did you abandon them, did they abandon you?"

"No, we were separated; I was injured and healed myself until continuing the battle, but the village was already aflame when I returned to fight,"

"So you hid,"

"No,"

"Liar,"

"Careful princess, you're treading on thin ice, and when it breaks I'll be under it," he stated in a cold tone. She simply glared yet again. He'd had enough and simply pushed past her towards the children and squatted down so he was eye level with most. One looked at him and whimpered. "Shhhh, its ok kids your safe now. He pulled out several candy bars he kept for rations and handed 4 to the children and 1 to the adults. They thanked him, well most of them.

"So how do plan on getting me out of here," the noble barked arrogantly.

"Excuse me," Ricky asked, a little peeved?

"I am a noble and as a soldier it is your duty to escort me to a safe location,"

"The children are the first priority, and as for were we go I do-," he was cut off by a transmission.

"Attention, all UNSC personnel. This is a priority transmission, you are to gather whatever forces and civilians and head to the Tristain Magic Academy; we have begun setting up a base of operations and defence force there. Please proceed immediately to location now be marked on your HUD," the transmission cut out and a red reticule appeared on his VISR .

"I assume you all heard that," he asked? They all nodded. "Then let's move it out. He upholstered gun and began walking and stopped. He turned towards the children and saw that they were tired, beaten, and terrified. They wouldn't last two minutes. He opened a transmission to the _Spirit_. _Spirit of Fire_, this is Lt. Andrew Ricky I have civilians that need immediate extraction. The ships A.I. responded.

"You have your orders Leftenant, carry them out,"

"Ma'am I have a dozen tired, young, terrified children, three civilians, a noble, and three jumpy women with muskets, there is no way these people can make the trudge with only me looking after them,"

"..."

"Ma'am,"

"I have a Pelican en route to take the children and civilians back to the _Spirit_, I can't guarantee their safe arrival since airspace is hot, but its safer for them then down there,"

"Much appreciated ma'am," he turned off his comm. and looked at the group. "A transport will be here to take the civilians and kids back to our ship where they will be safe and looked after. So with that said I bid you 'Adieu'. He turned and walked away, but was stopped by the lead woman.

"I'm coming with you,"

"No you're not,"

"Yes I am,"

"You're not ready or equipped properly to take on a squad of grunts, let alone the whole force; no you're going with the others,"

"I am the Captain of the Firearms Brigade, and I will not sit idly by while my country burns. I am going with you and you can't stop me," she told him with a stern frightening glare that could rival an angry Elite. Ricky let out a defeating sigh.

"Fine, but you keep my pace, you follow MY orders, and if you flee I'll shoot you in the back like the coward you are, Am I CLEAR," he said yelling less than an inch from her face?

"Crystal...sir," she responded with a trace of venom in her voice.

"Good, now you civilians wait here for the pelican, you'll know what it is when you see it. The four of us are going to head towards the academy and link up with my forces,"

"I also wish to accompany you, I have a daughter at the academy, and as a noble it is my sworn duty to protect the crown and all its lands," the noble requested. Ricky looked at the man. He was middle aged, had light blonde hair, mid length, a large moustache and small goatee and wore a monocle. He wore a typical outfit for the native nobles. Ricky simple looked at him.

"Alright, but the same applies to you. I'm in charge so you follow me, got it,"

"Yes,"

"Then let's stop yappin' and move it soldiers," he shouted as they began moving towards the academy. "Come on hustle, hustle I want you jogging not walking like an old Grandma with a crippled back move move move. I wanna be at this academy before the sun's pre glow touches the sky, and if I'm not then there will hell to pay. The four new squad members now had a similar thought racing through their minds.

"_We're screwed,"_

After the soldiers had left the civilians emerged from their hiding place and saw a large metallic bird like vessel land near where they were. A man emerged from the vehicle and motioned them to come aboard the vessel. A little girl grabbed a maid's skirt and looked up at her.

"Big sis, are these people angels that have come to save us from the demons," the little girl asked innocently? The young maid looked at her little sister and pondered this question. She smiled and picked up the little girl and carried in her one arm and held the hand of the a little boy and responded.

"Yes Anne I think they are,"


	5. Chapter 5

Familiar of Fire

Ch.5: Discovery

Louise was sitting in the academy's dining hall with Saito, her family, minus her father; and over a hundred nobles and other civilians being guarded by the soldiers that came from the great behemoth now above the academy. Louise had heard her father had fought in one of the nearby villages with the queen's knights and Firearms Brigade; they had heard that the village was now aflame from the demon army. No survivors. Louise's mother was grief stricken the most; she had married Louise's father out of love, not wealth or respect. Cattelya was like her mother sobbing out of sorrow and fear. Elenore was the only one keeping a straight face of the group. She felt that since she was the eldest sister she had to remain calm and unnerved by the events. However, inside she cried the most as she loved her father as much as her mother did. He had always been there for her, especially when her lover left her for someone else. Unfortunately for her one of the marines noticed her standing amongst the group and decided to open his big mouth.

"Is there a reason your family is cryin', and yet you remain there, scowlin' and unmoved," a soldier in ODST armour asked?

"I am the eldest sister, I must remain strong and set an example for my sisters," Elenore answered; her mood and voice giving nothing away. "I am a noble; I don't have the luxury or time to mourn even if he was my father. Her voice cracked at the last part of the sentence.

"So thats where the little brat gets it," another soldier stated beside his comrade. Elenore fumed at them.

"Excuse me?"

"The little pink haired one, she's like you; a pain in the ass and truly sad to look at," the first soldier answered. "I think your poor dad is turnin' in his grave, knowin' that you don't give a damn. This made Elenore crack. She stood up and walked towards the man, tears in her eyes, and attempted to slap the soldier. The soldier simply grabbed her wrist mid slap. Elenore quivered in anger.

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY I DON'T CARE, YOU WHELP," she screamed at the soldier. "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT LOSING A LOVED ONE AND SOMEONE IMPORTANT IN YOUR LIFE! The second soldier looked like he was going to slap her into next Tuesday, but was stopped by the first soldier raising his hand. The other soldier backed off; this was his fight, figuratively. The first soldier tightened his grip on Elenore's wrist, causing the girl to wince.

"You had better watch your words Bitch or you'll end up like a grunt without its methane tank," He depolarized his helmet and looked at the young woman. He was slightly younger than the woman, Caucasian, had grey eyes and a small scar going down the centre of his lip to his chin. "And like I told your sister when she decided to lip off to my teammate; don't go sayin' thin's you don't know anythin' about. He let go of Elenore and walked away from them. Elenore gathered her composure and sat down beside Louise and Saito again. The soldiers made a glance back at her and shook their heads. Saito spoke to Elenore.

"Elle, you gotta be careful; if these guys are anything like the soldiers from my home, they don't take that sort of crap from NOBODY. Henrietta would be in as much hot water as you are if she said something like that as well."

"Be quiet familiar, your opinion does not matter to me,"

"Just don't say I didn't warn you," Saito said as he held Louise while she sobbed in her sleep. Elenore didn't show it, but she felt a little guilty at being rash at those soldiers. God knows what they've been through and how much they've suffered. She simply sat there and contemplated whether or not to actually mourn, and whether or not to apologise to the soldiers.

Lt. Andrew Ricky was running through the streets of the flaming town. His new companions, keeping up with him; barely, and keeping a wary eye for Covenant troops. They were about half a mile from the city exit leading to the academy. Ricky was about to order a quick breather break, when one of the girl's head exploded.

"SNIPER," He yelled as he dove into an alley for cover, shooting at the spot where the shot came from. He managed to get to cover with the others. He took a quick peek out the side of the alley and managed to spot the shooter. It was a jackal with a beam rifle on the top of a building, across from them, at a crossroad one building down. His SMG was too short range for the shot, and his pistol had no scope. He looked around the street, in cover, to see if there was a weapon he could use. He nearly jumped for joy when he saw a dead Elite with a carbine beside its body. He turned to his now smaller team.

"Okay, I need you to fire at the top of the building, across from us at the cross roads," he told them. "Mean while, while you cover me, I'll grab that carbine and blow his head off. The three newcomers looked sceptical.

"Our muskets aren't that accurate," Agnes told him. Ricky pondered a second and pulled out his SMG and pistol and gave it to both ladies.

"They're just like your guns only more power and ammo. Just aim and squeeze, and make sure you don't poke your head out too long or you'll lose it." He said to them; they remained sceptical, but nodded. "On my mark, cover me. He had his back turned to them and counted his fingers down from 3...2... "Mark!" Ricky yelled as he ran from cover and narrowly avoided a beam aimed for his chest. The two women popped out of cover and began firing at the jackal; he ducked into cover to avoid the incoming fire. Ricky ducked and rolled as he grabbed the carbine. He took aim in a kneeling position, and waited for the sniper to poke his head out. The girls ran out of ammo in their clips; the jackal took the advantage and aimed his rifle at the blonde haired female human. His finger hovered over the trigger and squeezed; then darkness, as his brain exploded.

The beam skimmed past Agnes' head, clipping some the hair on her right side. She jumped; startled at how close she came to death, because of her stupidity at not returning to cover. Ricky stood up and motioned them to follow him. They complied and when Agnes passed by Ricky, she received a light smack upside the head. She turned around and glared at him. He stared her down.

"You almost lost your head; when I say keep your head out briefly, I mean briefly," he scowled at her. "You'd be dead right now if I hadn't taken the shot when I did. When we get the chance, I'm going to make sure you, your Firearms Brigade, and the Queen's Knights get some proper training and discipline. Agnes lowered her head, knowing she had screwed up and was saved yet again by the man in armour. He walked past her and lightly said to her. Nice shooting though; I couldn't have made it to the rifle, let alone take the shot, without you. She turned to look at him and received a pat on the shoulder. Good work soldier. He continued walking ahead of them and she let out a small smirk once his back was turned, but noticed that she was blushing. They continued walking for about ten minutes until they heard a noise.

"What's that buzzing noise," the nobleman asked. Ricky listened and then widened his eyes in fear.

"Buggers, hide now," he ordered them. Ricky dashed into a window and hid inside the building. Agnes the nobleman and the female musketeer ran for an alley. The musketeer tripped as she entered the alley way. She and the other two companions saw a swarm of beetle like creatures fly overhead and through the streets. They waited for 3 minutes until the swarm left; but unfortunately for the musketeer, one drone spotted her and decided to save the young woman for himself. The drone dropped down about 3 feet behind the prone woman. She grabbed her musket and fired at the red armoured bug. The drone's shields flared and he leapt at the woman and managed to grab her leg. The drone bit into her leg; the woman screamed in pain. Agnes fired her musket at the drone, but it shrugged it off with annoyance. Agnes grabbed her comrade's hands and tried to pull her away. The drone sunk the barbs on his arms into the poor woman's leg. Agnes pulled along with the nobleman, but only ended up tearing the girl's leg, as it tugged on the barbs. The Drone let go and pulled out its pistol; it had had enough interruptions and decide to eliminate his pest problem. The drone, however, never finished his thought; for he did not notice the tall figure come up behind him, wraps arm around its neck, and plunged a Machete into its head(AN: I forgot to mention this, but yes Ricky does carry a machete around with him).

Ricky tore the blade out of the, now dead, alien. He flicked so as to remove most of the blood. Ricky went over to the musketeer that been attacked and examined the leg; it was a mess. The barbs had torn into her muscle tissue and shredded a good portion of her shin muscles. Her Achilles tendon was practically snapped in half and the drone's venom was slowly working its way into the girl's system. Granted it would take days for the venom to become lethal, but it needed to be removed now, and he didn't have the necessary medical equipment. Bio-foam wasn't going to fix this leg. He looked at Agnes and shook his head.

"It's a goner," he explained with a small trace of sorrow in his voice. "I don't have the expertise or equipment to fix it and it will be too late by the time we reach the academy, especially if we're trying to carry her. He pulled out his machete. We have to take it off or else she'll die from the venom and infection before we make it, and I don't leave soldiers behind. Agnes nodded. She went over to the girl and held her head against her and shielded the girl's eyes. Ricky pulled out a wooden cylinder with rope wrapped around it. He handed it to the young musketeer. Bite down on this, it will help. She nodded and bit down on it as she turned her head and looked away. Ricky inhaled and exhaled. He swung his machete over head with tremendous force, hoping to end it in one clean swing. Fortune smiled on the man as he removed the leg from the down in one swing. The musketeer squealed as she bit down on the mouthpiece in pain. Ricky took out some Bio-foam and morphine and applied it to the wound. He then removed some gauze from his med pack and wrapped around the stump of her leg. After managing to stop the bleeding, the girl was placed on the nobles back and carried her piggy back style. The group then continued their journey towards the academy.

Ooglaie was approaching the briefing room with his second, Jugger. They planned to be in the second assault wave against the humans at the so called academy. They entered the briefing room were 12 zealots, 20 ultras, 30 Major Domos and a Councillor awaited him. He nodded to them and sat down while Jugger stood. A zealot grumbled.

"Is there a problem Hagomee (hag-oh-me)," Ooglaie asked?

"Yes, I am somewhat offended that you bring this...underling in our presence during a war meeting," the zealot commented. Several Ultras and the Majors all glared daggers at him.

"Jugger is more a warrior than you are a zealot, is my XO, commands one of the finest units of Unngoy Kig-yar and Sangheili; who all respect him I might add, and has saved my hide more times than I care to count. So if you have a problem with him you have a problem with me, and if so then remove yourself from my sight," Ooglaie snarled. The zealot was slightly taken aback from the hostility. Jugger smiled inwardly at his comrade's loyalty.

"My apologises shipmaster I was out of place,"

"Yes you were, but let us continue with this meeting that Councillor Gorappee (goh-rah-pee) has called," he waved his hand to the councillor.

"Thank you shipmaster, as you all know the humans are preparing for a siege against our forces; a fairly lengthy one I might add," he activated a holographic image of the Tristain academy. "As you can see they have set up a surprisingly secure base of operations. They have heavy anti-aircraft, sizeable artillery and mortars, plenty of bodies and mechanized support, and a lengthy and thick trench line in front of the entrance of the academy filled with anti-vehicle, air and infantry nests. He zoomed in on the trench line with consisted of three trenches. The first filled with mostly infantry and nests, the second filled with some mortars and anti-vehicle along with infantry. Finally the third was thick with tank support, mortars, infantry, anti-infantry nests, and anti-air nests. They also have three bases surrounding the academy, two of which are focused on relieving and reinforcing the academy whilst the other focuses on power and retrieving the necessary resources to continue fighting; all heavily defended. The academy itself is split into sections. He changes the hologram into an overhead view. The inside of the academy walls had four sections. The walls themselves are defended by infantry, anti-air and the local military. The inside of the walls are worse than the trenches. Anti-air is far too thick to land within, and their tank support could tear most our infantry apart before they could clear the walls. They seem to be evacuating civilians from several platforms they have set up in the different sections of walls; for every batch of civilians that are evacuated, fresh troops and supplies are dropped off on the return trip.

"Not to be rude councillor, but is there a point to all this," one of the zealots asked?

"I was just getting to that, as you all know are ship is crippled from the recent hit and run the human ship made on us, and it will not be able to support the ground forces," the councillor continued. "Their ship will however be there to support them, and their air support has grown since are seraphs made runs on their infantry. He paused a moment and waited for them to take in all the information. Due to a recent discovery, from a scan we did on the academy, I request that the assault be held off for an additional day or so. The other Sangheili all looked at him as he had turned into a Huragok. He brought up a new image of the academy, but this time it had an underground tunnel system leading towards what looked like a facility. Ooglaie nearly jumped out his seat in surprise.

"Are these readings correct Councillor," he asked the Councillor?

"I have reviewed it several times over; there is no mistaking what you all see in front of you,"

"If this is true than that would mean..." One of the zealots began to ponder out loud.

"But how, this is a different dimension, there's no way..." an Ultra said to his fellow companions.

"Is it possible this is what we have been searching for..." one Sangheili started.

"And the humans have simply desecrated this place..." another finished.

"FOR THE LOVE OF THE HOLY RINGS, WILL SOMEBODY TELL ME WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT," Jugger screamed! Ooglaie returned from his stupor and looked at Jugger a little embarrassed.

"My apologies, Jugger, I forgot you are not as accustomed to these particular scans as I am," Ooglaie explained. "You see these scans are used to locate certain artefacts. These are the same scans used when we located the human world _Harvst_. Jugger went bugged eyed.

"So what you're saying is that..."

"Yes old friend, that beneath the academy is a Forerunner facility,"

(AN: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUNNNN. Sorry for the late update, but University takes priority guys, plus I have other hobbies that I need to attend to as well. Anyways give me some CREATIVE feedback and what you think PLEASE REVIEW)


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